New Delhi: BJP Parliamentary Board inducted six new faces in the body including the first Sikh representative, signals a generational and political shift in the highest tiers of the BJP in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah era.

The new faces inducted in the BJP Parliamentary Board are Karnataka former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and others.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan were dropped from the BJP’s top decision-making body on Wednesday.  Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for 20 years, has also been dropped from the parliamentary board. With him gone, there is no Chief Minister on the board.

Yediyurappa’s inclusion reflects the party’s efforts to win over the powerful Lingayat leader in Karnataka. The BJP, however, needs Yediyurappa’s cooperation in the Karnataka election next year; the Lingayats account for 18 per cent of the votes in Karnataka.

The only constants in this shuffle are PM Modi, Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and the party’s BL Santhosh. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also a former BJP chief, has made a reentry into the parliamentary board. Members of the parliamentary board automatically become part of the election committee.